238 ODYSSEY • BOOK XV [30;

Meanwhile Odysseus and the worthy swineherd, with tl
farm-hands for company, were taking supper in the hut. Whe
they had eaten and drunk their fill, Odysseus put out a feeler t
discover whether he could count on the swineherd's continue
hospitality and an invitation to stay there at the farm, or woul
be sent off to the city.(Listen to me/ he said,(Eumaeus and yo
men of his. I intend to leave you in the morning and go to th
town to beg, so that I may not be a burden to you and you
mates. But I should be glad of your best advice and the compan-
of a trustworthy guide to show me the way. Once there I shal
be thrown on my own resources and shall have to wander abou
the place in the hope that someone will give me a cup ofwate
and a crust of bread. I propose also to go to King Odysseus
palace and deliver my news to his wise queen, Penelope. Nor d<
I see why I shouldn't approach those ill-conditioned Suitors yoi
speak of. They have such an abundance of good things that thei
might well spare me a meal. I should be ready to make an excel-
lent job of whatever work they wanted done. For I tell yoi
frankly, and you can take it from me, that by favour of Hermes
the Messenger, to whom the labour of men's hands owes all th(
grace and the success that it achieves, there's not a man to touct
me at servants' work, at laying a fire well, at splitting dry fag-
gots, as a carver, a cook, a wine-steward, in short at anything
that humble folk do by way of serving their betters.'

But the swineherd was most indignant. * My good sir,' he ex-
claimed, ' what on earth put such a scheme into your head? You
will simply be courting sudden death, if you insist on attaching
yourself to a set of men whose profligacy and violence have out-
raged heaven itself. Their servants are not at all your kind, but
smartly dressed young fellows, who always grease their hair and
keep their pretty faces clean. That is the kind that wait on them
- at polished tables, groaning under their load of bread and
meat and wine. No, sir, stay with me, where nobody finds you a
nuisance. I certainly don't, nor does any of my mates here. And
when Odysseus' son arrives, he'll fit you out in a cloak and tunic
and send you on wherever you would like to go.'